


Reparations

by dragonesdepapel



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Post Season 5, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Snapshots, anyway people talk about their feelings that's it that's the fic, i'll probably add tags as I go? I'm struggling with it right now lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:54:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28632837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonesdepapel/pseuds/dragonesdepapel
Summary: The war is over, magic is flourishing again in all corners of the universe, and Etheria is healing. But there's still conversations to be had, apologies to make, and bridges to mend.
Relationships: Adora & Scorpia (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been having some trouble writing these last few months. Even if I did write a few scenes for different fics I could never finish any of them, so I decided to attempt something easier, and independent pieces of dialogue are usually like, my thing. So have Scorpia and Adora for now, and look forward for Glimmer and Catra hopefully in the next couple of days. And then we'll see where this takes me.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here.”

Adora looked up from the book on her hands. A smile curled up her lips. “You got lost?”

Scorpia put up her claws and violently shook her head. “No!! No, not in the slightest, I totally wanted to walk into this...this...uh, what even IS this place?” she asked, finally taking a look at the room.

It was both big and cramped. Every surface was covered by various objects, most of them clothes, to the point where said surfaces were unrecognizable from afar. The floor was also littered with shoes and socks and, on occasion, purses.  Scorpia could clearly see the path Adora had taken to reach her current spot, the empty space among the chaos a telltale sign of recent interference.

Looking around like she was trying to find the answer, Adora shrugged. “At first I thought it was some kind of abandoned closet? But then I found a kitchenette near the back, so I’m honestly not sure.”

Scorpia laughed. Then she stopped. She looked around again. “So uhm... I gues I’ll just...”

“Do you want me to walk you to the main room?” Adora suggested.

“Oh no, that's _fine_ ,” Scorpia took a step backwards towards the door, “don't worry about me, you can go back to...whatever you do in...this place that apparently isn't a closet. And I’ll go back to doing... whatever I’m supposed to be doing right now.” She chuckled, and this time it came out all awkward.

Adora set down her book. “You got overwhelmed too?”

She sighed. “Honestly? Yes. Is dance planning always this intense?”

Adora sighed too. “Why do you think I'm hiding in this non-closet?” She patted the space next to her. “C'mon, sit for a while, tell me what's really bothering you.”

“Bothering me?” Scorpia said, but still started walking along Adora’s carefully laid path. “Oh no  no , nothing is bothering me, no sir, I'm as unbothered as a... as a princess who...” She faltered, then gave up. “Ok, you got me again.”

By this point she had made it to Adora’s side. She was sitting on a wooden chest, and she scooted to the side to make place for Scorpia. The angle was a bit awkward, as there wasn’t really enough room to be sitting facing each other, but at least the wood under them was sturdy.

“It's just-” she started, but couldn’t go on for a second. She took a deep breath, from her stomach, just like Perfuma had taught her. “The people who will be here... some of them I know them, they’re my friends now! But some... the last time they saw me...”

“It was at Princess Prom,” Adora said, nodding.

“Exactly. And I think we can all agree I did _not_ make the best impression there.”

Adora chuckled, and it made Scorpia feel a bit better. She _had_ been aiming to make her laugh with her tone, after all.

“You’ve gotten to know lots of people who first met you when you were with the Horde, though. You made friends with Bow and the first time you saw him you tossed him straight into an engine! And it has always turned out alright. What would make this time different?”

She rubbed the back of her neck, making her earrings tinkle. “I guess you are right? But it feels different. All those times... we were on a battlefield. In Princess Prom... well, it was a ball. At the time I thought no-one had wanted me to come. I believed all the Horde’s lies about how I would never fit in, and that people wouldn’t even let me _try_ to fit in anyway. But that was all they were, lies. Frosta and the rest of the princesses opened their doors to us that night. She even defended us when you tried to warn them. And we repaid her by ruining her party, destroying her home,” she lowered her voice, and looked at her hands. A red rose was wrapped around her wrist, Perfuma’s gift. It was nice, like carrying around a hug.

“Princess Prom was a long time ago, Scorpia. Think about all that has happened since then! We’ve defeated Prime, we’ve brought back peace to not only Etheria, but to the entire universe. And we could have never done that without you. Everyone on that ballroom knows that. The whole planet knows that. If it wasn’t for you, and your strength and your loyalty, who knows if we would’ve even made it? And after that. The planet is healing. You’re helping it heal. You’ve been part of the reconstructions for months now. You’ve built homes. You’ve helped Perfuma make the trees grow. This ball? It’s a celebration of that. Of all we’ve accomplished, _together._ Every single person down there has made this planet better. We’ve made each other better. You have nothing to be scared of.”

“Wow, I’m really going to need a hug after that.”

Adora laughed and leaned forward, letting Scorpia crush her with her arms. After a few seconds, she let her go, blinking a few tears away. She focused on the pressure at her wrist and the perfume of roses that had enveloped her all afternoon.

“Thanks, Adora, you are really good at this.”

Her friend laughed again. “Pffft, right. No, I'm not any good at this, but you think I haven't gone over it a million times with Catra?”

Scorpia shared a look with her understanding, then got up to leave. To her surprise, Adora didn’t follow her to the doorway.

“You’re not coming?”

She waved her away. “I need a few more minutes. The party doesn’t start for a few hours anyway.”

Scorpia nodded, and turned to close the door behind her, but stopped. “Adora, I actually wanted to thank you.”

Confusion furrowed her brow. “Thank me? For what?”

“You've always been very nice to me. Well, after I crossed over to Bright Moon, of course, before that we uh, didn't get along so great.”

That only furthered her frown. Why wouldn't I?”

Scorpia looked up to the ceiling, rubbing her arm with her roseless hand. “I didn't exactly like you. Again, before, I mean. Well, it was more than that. I hated you, that’s closer to it.”

A sad smile took over Adora’s expression. “You had good reasons to. I'm just glad Catra had someone looking out for her all those years, even if she didn't appreciate it at the time.”

Scorpia nodded, then finally left the room and made her way to the main area of the castle. She debated looking for Catra, or maybe Glimmer, to tell them that they should go and find Adora. But she hadn’t looked sad when Scorpia had walked in, not exactly. More like... reflective. And she had welcomed Scorpia into her safe corner and listened to her, so letting Adora have her own space was probably the best way to thank her for that. She would look for her later, at the party. She was sure Catra wouldn’t mind sharing her for one dance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've seen some incredible renditions of this interaction, but I still wanted to try my hand at it. I said I was going to like, have fun with this fic! Make it something I don't need to stress about!! But then I was like _okay but if I don't manage to completely **nail** everyone's personalities then what is even the **point.**_
> 
> I've kindly told myself to chill don't worry lmao

She bumped into Glimmer, because of course she did. It was the middle of the night, their room was nowhere near this corridor, and Catra’s face couldn’t keep itself from making the guiltiest expression on the whole planet. 

Great. 

For a few seconds they just stood there, looking at each other. Glimmer was carrying a lantern with her, but the candle inside was covered to dim its light. It was still a testament to how completely out of it Catra was that night, the fact that she hadn’t noticed it approaching until it was too late. 

Finally, Glimmer sighed. “You too, huh?” 

Catra’s tail wrapped itself around her thigh. She directed her gaze to the floor, not answering. She doubted her nightly stroll shared anything with Glimmer’s except for, clearly, its destination. 

Unyielding her lantern, Glimmer sat on the floor, back straight against the wall. Catra blinked as her eyes adjusted to the new light, but it wasn’t as blinding as she thought it’d be. It cast a soft glow around them, barely bright enough to reach the wall in front of her. Catra was still half searching for a quick exit route, when Glimmer patted the space next to her. 

It looked like she’d have to go through this after all. 

She left as much space between her and Glimmer as she could while not making it obvious, but still, she sat down. 

The mural seemed to glare at her as she did so. 

She had never met the former Queen of Bright Moon, but she was still perfectly able to picture her glowering at Catra as she dared inhabit the halls of her home. Where Glimmer was perfectly at ease, Catra couldn’t have been more clearly a knot of worries. This was how she was supposed to feel. Small and out of place, cowering as Her Majesty towered over her. 

Glimmer didn’t say anything at all, and Catra wondered why she had even let her stay. Why she hadn’t sent her back to her room with a disgusted scowl on her face. Catra risked looking sideways at her friend, but she didn’t find an ounce of discomfort on her frame. 

She couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Listen, Glimmer,” she started. She pressed her back more firmly against the rock behind her, closing her eyes for a second. She avoided Glimmer’s face, there was no way she could do this if she didn’t. “I’m not...I’m not going to say sorry, because that would be fucked up, there’s nothing I can say or do to earn forgiveness for... But. Just- I know, I know it’s my fault that Angella is gone. If I hadn’t pulled that lever, if I-” a sob got caught in her throat, cutting her off. She wanted to slap herself. This wasn’t about her. 

For a few moments, Glimmer stood still, gaze locked on her mother’s image in front of her. Then, she moved. She turned towards Catra, but didn’t say anything as she tugged on Catra’s hand. Catra didn’t understand what she wanted. They weren’t leaving, were they? But Glimmer rolled her eyes before turning again, this time showing her back to Catra. 

Had she felt anything other than dread, Catra would have smiled. 

She peeled herself off the wall, then scooted over till her back was pressed against Glimmer’s. It was far more comfortable than cold, unforgiving stone. 

“You know, after it happened, I blamed everyone for it. You, Hordak, the Horde. Entrapta, for building the damn thing. But I didn’t I stop there. I blamed the Princess Alliance, for not stopping them sooner. I blamed my dad, for not being here. I blamed my mom, for allowing her mistakes in this war to escalate this far. Everyone. Even Adora.” 

A bubble of anger formed on Catra’s chest, but she was quick to pop it. How could she blame Glimmer for circumstances Catra herself had created? 

“I said such horrible things to her... I was hurting, and I know that I was allowed that, but the way I handled it... I was so full of anger. And I let that anger push me away from my friends. It hurt me, and I used it to hurt those around me too.” She paused, and Catra didn’t dare move, didn’t dare breathe, not knowing what Glimmer wanted from her in that moment. “You are not the only one who could never apologize for the things they’ve done. You almost destroyed reality. I almost destroyed the universe. Twice. If it weren’t for me, the Heart would’ve never been restored, and Horde Prime would’ve never found it.” 

Catra couldn’t stay silent anymore. “We’re not the same, Glimmer. You did the things you thought were right. You were trying to save people, all I wanted to do was hurt.” 

A strangled laugh was her reply. “You really think so? I think we couldn’t be more alike. At least you had a reason for your anger. Has Adora told you about Entrapta? You sent her to Beast Island, I decided not to save her. Instead, I restored the Heart. And I really thought I was doing the right thing, sure, but I also thought they were pulling away from me. I thought they didn’t care. My best friends in the entire universe, and I thought they didn’t care.” She fell silence, and Catra still couldn’t find the words to answer her. “You still think we’re so different?” 

“You don’t make it easy to disagree with you, Sparkles.” 

The chuckle that followed was low and soft, a harsh contrast to the bitter laugh that had left Glimmer’s throat before. Her hand searched in the dark till it found Catra’s. 

“My point is, we were both lucky we had friends fighting in our corner. Even if you didn’t know they were friends yet. I had Adora save me from my mistakes. And you had my mom.” Catra felt a small movement behind her head, and didn’t need to see to know that Glimmer’s eyes had strayed towards the wall again. “She might’ve not made it out, but I know she would never choose different. How many times did Adora almost die for this war? How many of those were occasions directly caused by me?” 

“Adora wouldn’t like you to think like that,” Catra mumbled. 

The pressure at her back disappeared, and she knew Glimmer was waiting for her to turn around too. She did. 

“Exactly.” She let go of Catra’s hand, and instead brought hers up to raise Catra’s chin, forcing her to look directly into her eyes. “You are right, you can’t ask for my forgiveness. But I forgive you anyway. It's a choice I make. I have no doubt in my mind it’s the right one. Can you choose to forgive yourself too?” 

Catra looked firmly ahead, at Glimmer, yes, but also at what lay beyond her. Queen Angella, forever immortalized in stone and glaze, was watching over her daughter. She smiled. “I’m working on it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at first I was thinking of following up with Double Trouble? I've never written them before, and I thought it would be fun. Buuuuuuuuut,,, yeah I don't think Catra would handle -that- very well. So I'm saving it for another day. Maybe an angrier, sadder day lol  
> Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio, however, sound like an interesting (and more realistic) challenge, so that's probably what I'm going to go with.

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't think Scorpia ever -hated- Adora, but I also think she's not the best at dealing with negative emotions, so she probably believed her animosity WAS closer to hatred than just dislike. Also the idea of Scorpia saying "sorry I hated you" to Adora is very funny to me.
> 
> Like I said, I have SO many unfinished fics right now. I'm drowning, save me. I have a couple of weeks before uni starts for me again, so I really want to get a good amount of writing done before that happens. So if you want to selfishly nudge me into completing something you'd like to see, here are some of the general concepts I'm working on: (I was going to write the working titles but I realized they were completely unhelpful even to me 😅)  
> \- Adora angsting over Catra set pre season 4 (there're multiple fics in this vein apparently I've been On A Mood lmao)  
> \- Catradora meets on a trip to beach au (it was going to be a oneshot but now I'm thinking multichaptered??? WHAT AM I DOING)  
> \- I also,,, have,,,, two more wips,,,, that I should update,,,,,,,,,,, I swear I haven't forgotten about them, they're just too intimidating u.u  
> \- For post series I have the classic Catra Needs Therapy(tm) (but she's got Adora supporting her) and one where Catra defends Adora's honor in front of Some Alien Jerks  
> \- Also something vaguely shaped like a marriage fic with bonus best friend squad interaction but it's probably not what it sounds like? I'm terrible at this i'm sorry lmao  
> Here's my [tumblr](http://thebravething.tumblr.com) in case you want to stop by there and chat, if I haven't already put you off with my long author's note and my penchant for addressing them as if I were talking to friends and not strangers who are already doing me the courtesy of reading my work.


End file.
